Heart of Fire: Pool of Cinders Book 2
by The Unheard Song
Summary: Cinderpool and Fireheart have had three beautiful kits-Oakkit, Crowkit, and Emberkit. The kits think they're leading normal lives, but they've no idea of what their future holds...and the ominous prophecy revolving around them. Sequal to first book.
1. PROLOGUE

**Well, here it is! The fanfiction you've all been waiting for-the sequel to ****Heart of Fire: Pool of Cinders****! I've decided to make it earlier than I'd intentioned because I couldn't stand the anticipation! XD So here's the prologue of Book 2~!**

PROLOGUE

_Cinderpool opened her eyes, revealing large pools of blue, to face the beams of sunlight streaking into the nursery between the brambles. There was scuffling amongst the dusty camp floor and faint squeals of laughter and protest. "Ouch! That's not fair; you unsheathed your claws!" came the squeaking hiss of a tom kit._

"_Pinekit, play fairly," Brindleface warned. "Keep your claws sheathed, and I mean it."_

"_But Mother…" A brown tabby tom kit turned to Brindleface with a pout spread upon his face. His green eyes were pleading._

_Brindleface licked her son between the ears. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. Keep them sheathed, or you won't be leaving the nursery for a moon."_

_Pinekit sighed, sheathed his tiny claws, and turned back to Crowkit to play._

_Cinderpool rose to her paws and arched her back in a stretch. She stepped over her two other sleeping kits and squeezed through the nursery entrance. Fresh air whipped her face and ruffled her fluffy gray fur. She parted her jaws to taste the air-it tasted of flowers and new prey, but also of rain._

_Cinderpool spotted Cloudpaw, a longhaired white tom with blue eyes. He had originally come from a kittypet, who was Fireheart's sister. But his sister had given Cloudpaw up so he could experience Clan life. Fireheart had recently taken his nephew as his new apprentice._

"_Good morning, Cloudpaw," Cinderpool meowed. Cloudpaw yawned and flicked his ears in greeting. "'Morning, Cinderpool. How are your kits? Ya know, they're my cousins." Cloudpaw seemed proud._

"_They're healthy and growing. Crowkit was in there tussling with Pinekit and woke me up." Cinderpool twitched her whiskers at the two playful bundles of fur, whom she could hear squealing from inside the nursery. "Soon they'll be able to start eating fresh-kill."_

_Cloudpaw smiled. "That's great! I hope I can mentor one of them." A gentle breeze ruffled their fur. "New-leaf is here," Cinderpool commented, purring._

"_Cloudpaw!" Fireheart was calling his apprentice from the other side of camp. He stood with Mousefur and Thornpaw at the entrance. "Hunting patrol."_

_Cloudpaw jumped to his paws. "Great! A hunting patrol!" His blue eyes shimmered and his long white pelt glowed in the frosty sunrise. "I'll see you around, Cinderpool. Bye!"_

_Cinderpool waved her tail, grabbed a water vole, and headed back into the nursery. She settled down beside her sleeping kits and began to devour the water vole. Goldenflower was beginning to stir, and she opened her eyes. "Good morning, Cinderpool, Brindleface," she greeting, yawning and stretching her arms out in front of her. She blinked sleepily at Cinderpool. "I keep forgetting that you had kits."_

_Cinderpool chuckled and glanced down at Goldenflower's kits, who were at least two moons younger than Cinderpool's own. "How are Bramblekit and Tawnykit?" she asked._

"_They're doing great, Cinderpool, thanks," the golden she-cat replied, yawning once again. "And yours?"  
"Well. Although Crowkit and Pinekit were tussling this morning and awoke me."_

"_Kits."_

"_Yeah."_

_It was silent for a moment. Birds chirped outside the camp and frosty sunlight streaked into the nursery. A gentle gust of wind rustled the brambles and a few cats called to each other outside of the den. "Well, I'm going to go visit Brackenfur." She rose to her paws and stretched, then headed into the clearing. Immediately she crashed into someone._

"_Sorry!" Cinderpool mewed, and when she opened her eyes she saw Tigerclaw. The massive dark tabby tom stared down at her and growled, "How are your kits?"_

_Like he even cares about my kits, Cinderpool thought, but she responded, "They're well. I just spoke to Goldenflower. Bramblekit and Tawnykit are fantastic as well."_

_Cinderpool expected the tom to nod and pad away, but he shouldered past her and squeezed into the nursery. Cinderpool gave her shoulder a few quick licks and entered the warriors' den. "Brackenfur!" she whispered. The golden-brown tabby tom peeked out one amber eye and lifted his head groggily. He stretched his mouth wide open in a yawn. "What is it, Cinderpool? I was just having this great dream about-"_

"_Come here!" _

"_Why? I'm still tired…"_

"_Come on, you lazy furball!"_

"_I was on the evening patrol, Cinderpool…"_

"_Get out here!"_

_Yawning, Brackenfur rose to his paws, carefully stepped over the sleeping bodies of other warriors, and pushed his way out of the warriors' den. "What is it, Cinderpool?"_

"_Today is my kits' three-moon birthday!"_

_Brackenfur growled and cuffed his sister's ear playfully. "Is that what you woke me up and brought me out here for? Just to tell me that?"_

_Cinderpool purred in amusement, nodded, and tackled her brother. Brackenfur gave a startled gasp, apparently not expecting it. Cinderpool battered at his belly with sheathed hind paws and nipped at his ear. Brackenfur hissed teasingly and rolled onto his back so he could heave it and send Cinderpool flying off. The gray she-cat climbed off her brother, still laughing, and sat down, purring. She had a loyal, loving mate, an affectionate, fun brother, and three beautiful, sweet kits. What more could she want?_

_Meanwhile, Thunderstar lay with his paws tucked under his chest. His tail flicked side to side in giddiness. "I remember how much I loved my kits," he purred. _

_Featherwhisker rested beside the former ThunderClan leader, his feathery plume of a tail curled around his fluffy body. "I wonder if she'll ever realize that her kits were meant to do extraordinary things."_

**Ugh. This was a horrible prologue. Please excuse it! I had nothing to write about, so I just wrote about a normal day for Cinderpool. –Hangs head in shame- I'm sorry for boring you. Please continue onward with the story when I do update. And I'm not sure I told ya'll this, but Tigerclaw is NOT evil in this series because it's mainly about Cinderpool and Fireheart's kits, not my evilly sexy kitty.**


	2. CHAPTER 1

**Hey, all! I'm back with chapter one! The stupid login thing wasn't working when I finished this chapter, so I had to wait.**

**Harry Potter 101-I add the allegiance page at the end of each book. You can check the first book-it'll have the allegiances as the last chapter.**

**Well, enjoy.**

CHAPTER 1

_A crispy orange-brown leaf fluttered_ to the ground. Amber eyes narrowed through the darkness and blinked slowly. Paws crept forward silently, and all of a sudden, a golden-brown tabby shot out of the darkness and pinned the leaf down. "Take that, you RiverClan trespasser!" he hissed.

"Oakkit, are you pretending that leaves are RiverClan cats again?"

The golden-brown tabby tom jumped and shook his head. "No. Why would I be doing that? That's kit stuff, and we've only got half a moon left till we're out of the nursery."

A tabby she-kit paced in front of him, her whiskers twitching with amusement. "Sure you weren't, Oakkit."

"Rabbitkit!" Oakkit hissed. "I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were. I saw you."

"I was not!"

"Quit arguing, you two!"

A gray tom kit with darker flecks padded over to the two conflicting kits. "Haven't you guys quarreled enough in one lifetime?"

Oakkit glanced down at his paws. "Sorry, Ashkit. Rabbitkit is just blaming me for nonsense things…" Rabbitkit growled in protest. "Just want till I'm an apprentice, and I'll claw the fur off of your back." She spun around and stalked to the fresh-kill pile.

Ashkit sighed. "You two…" He shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Oakkit glanced around. "Where's Fernkit? You two are usually inseparable."

"Brindleface is washing her."

"Oh. Poor Fernkit."

"Emberkit just woke up. She is going to come out any heartbeat now."

"Hey, Oakkit!" A flame-colored she-kit pounced out of the nursery, followed by a smoky black tom. "Let's do something fun today, rather than just hanging around here in the camp."

Oakkit stared at his sister. "Emberkit, I don't think that's such a good idea…what if we get caught by the dawn patrol? We'll get in so much trouble with Cinderpool, and our apprentice ceremonies will be postponed…"

"You worry too much, Oakkit," Emberkit mewed. "So are you coming or not? Crowkit and I decided to try to find the Great Sycamore."

Oakkit wished he could, but he just couldn't bear waiting another moon or two for his apprenticeship. "No thanks. I couldn't stand getting in trouble with Bluestar and Tigerclaw."

"We won't get in trouble!" Emberkit squeaked. "We'll be back before any cat notices! Cinderpool is too busy talking with every cat, and Fireheart is out with Cloudpaw. Please, Oakkit? We all have to be in this together. If you don't go, then Crowkit and I won't go."

Oakkit didn't want to ruin the fun, so he finally nodded and sighed, "All right, I'll go. But if we get in trouble…" He kneaded the ground with his claws.

Emberkit bounced to her paws. "We won't! I'll make sure of it. Let's go!" She turned and scurried into the thorn bushes that surrounded the camp. Oakkit and Crowkit exchanged glances, and quickly followed. "We have to be careful," Oakkit whispered as they inched their way through the prickly bush. "We might get caught by a patrol."

"Yeeowch!" came a startled hiss behind the three kits. Oakkit spun around, feeling dread prickle his pelt. Had they been caught?

He sighed in relief to see Rabbitkit and her brother, Pinekit. A bramble was snagged in her tabby fur. Pinekit was trying to dislodge it with his teeth. "Rabbitkit, Pinekit, what are you doing here?" Crowkit hissed.

"We saw you going into the brambles, so we decided to follow you!" Pinekit replied, his voice muffled by trying to yank the bramble from Rabbitkit's pelt.

"Where are Ashkit and Fernkit?" Emberkit inquired. Pinekit finally extricated the bramble from Rabbitkit's striped fur and answered, "Fernkit didn't want to get in trouble and Ashkit is always by her side, so he decided not to go either. Although, I could tell that he did want to go. So where exactly are we going?"

"We'll tell you when we get out of the camp!" Emberkit turned and continued picking her way through the bush. Oakkit, still unsure, followed Crowkit until they reached the outside of the camp. Oakkit gazed around in wonder. He could just barely see the trees from inside the camp, but outside, he could see _everything!_

"Wow!" he murmured. "The trees are even bigger in person!" He stopped to admire his new surroundings.

"Come on, Oakkit!" Emberkit hissed. "Don't just stand there gawking! We're gonna get caught! Come on!" Oakkit turned and dashed after the kits, making sure he could see Emberkit's flame-colored pelt just ahead of him so he wouldn't get separated from the group.

"We're looking for the Great Sycamore," Crowkit was explaining to Rabbitkit and Pinekit. "You mean that big sycamore tree that Sandpaw and Dapplepaw always talk about?"

Oakkit thought about Sandpaw and Dapplepaw. Fireheart had found them as three-moon-old kits, wandering around the dirt place, and had taken them back to camp. Oakkit and his siblings were born about three moons before their apprentice ceremony. Sandpaw was defiant, proud, and sharp-tongued, while Dapplepaw had been quiet and shy.

"I can't wait until we're apprentices!" Emberkit meowed, bouncing. "Maybe if we find the Great Sycamore, Bluestar will consider making us apprentices earlier because we're strong!"

"Yeah, maybe!" Pinekit agreed. "I hope so! You guys will be apprentices before Rabbitkit, Fernkit, Ashkit, and me. But since we're coming along, Rabbitkit and I will become apprentices earlier."

"This was the greatest idea ever!" Rabbitkit cried. "Now we'll be apprentices with you!"

**Weird ending. Well, did you like chapter one? I love Pinekit! He's just so awesome. XD I'll update later, if I can. See ya.**

**xx-Starfall-xx**


	3. CHAPTER 2

**It's been a long time since I've updated! O.o I've been busy working on ****The 100 Tales Challenge****. Sorry about that! Here's Chappie 2!**

CHAPTER 2

"_Is that the Great Sycamore?" Pinekit _asked in astonishment. "It's huge!" An enormous sycamore tree stretched to the sky, gnarled branches extended like arms, and the bark smooth.

"Let's see if we can catch anything!" Emberkit exclaimed, bouncing. She tasted the air. "Um…I think I smell mouse!" Dropping into a hunter's crouch, she stalked towards the base of the trunk, still sniffing.

"Look, it's fresh-kill!" Emberkit pawed at a dead mouse with dirt sprinkled onto its brown-gray fur. Oakkit stiffened. "If it's fresh-kill, that means that a hunting patrol has been here! What if they catch us?" His amber eyes were wide with horror.

"They won't," Rabbitkit assured. "It will be okay. We can just run if they-"

"If who does what?"

A deep voice made Emberkit jump. She turned spun around and saw Longtail standing over her, amber eyes gleaming. Emberkit bristled. "H-hi, Longtail."

Longtail shook his head. "I can't believe you kits. Sneaking out all the way to the Great Sycamore? I'll be letting Fireheart and Bluestar know about this. You could've been killed."

"By what?" Emberkit inquired defiantly.

"You could've gotten lost!" Longtail bristled at the small kit's argumentativeness. "Come on." He flicked his tail and turned around.

"No!" Emberkit squeaked. "We want to see the rest of the forest!"

"Shall I carry you, then?" Longtail growled, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck. Emberkit squealed in rage and thrashed in his jaws. Longtail placed her back on the ground, and she arched her back and bared her teeth. "Don't pick me up ever again!"

Longtail hissed. "And who's going to stop me?"

"I am!" Emberkit stomped her paw. Longtail rolled his eyes. "Come _on. _I've got to get back to hunting now."

"Just come on, Emberkit," Oakkit whispered to her. She growled but followed Longtail and the rest of the kits back to the camp.

"Oh!" Cinderpool cried when she saw her kits padding into the camp. "Oakkit! Crowkit! Emberkit! I've been so worried!" She bounded over to them and nuzzled them.

Brindleface also came running out of the nursery to scoop up Pinekit and Rabbitkit. "Don't _ever_ leave this camp again! That is, until you're apprentices! Which will probably be when you're 8 moons, because you're going to be in so much _trouble!"_

Oakkit glared at Emberkit. Heat rose to her face. "_What?"_

"We got caught," Oakkit muttered.

"Well how am I supposed to control us getting caught?" Emberkit demanded.

"I told you we shouldn't have gone!" Oakkit hissed. "But did you listen? No! You _never_ listen to _any_ cat! You're so…ignorant!"

Emberkit growled. "I am _not!"_

"You are." Crowkit stepped in between his two bickering siblings. "You don't listen at all, to any cat. You're the one who made us all come out there in the first place."

"You agreed!" Emberkit spat, but she knew that he was right. It was _her_ idea, and she kind of made them to go. But she wouldn't let them know that they were right. She hated being wrong, or at least saying that she was wrong. Anyone who knew her knew that about her.

"But you kind of forced us to!" Oakkit mumbled, turning away and following Cinderpool into the nursery. Emberkit ruffled her pelt, her face hot with aggravation, and hurried after her mother.

"You three are in _so_ much trouble!" Cinderpool hissed. "Just wait until your father hears about this! Oh wait, he already knows! The whole Clan knows! Don't you understand that you can't leave the Clan until you're an apprentice?" She finished with an exasperated sigh.

"Cinderpool! Have they found them yet?" Fireheart suddenly darted into the nursery. Then his bright ginger fur bristled. "Emberkit…Crowkit…Oakkit…" His voice was edged with anger.

"Sorry, Dad…" Oakkit whimpered as he clomped toward them.

"Do you know how much trouble you've caused?" he demanded, towering over his three kits, who shrank back in terror. "The whole Clan has been out in the forest looking for you! Whose idea was this?" His green gaze landed on Emberkit. Crowkit and Oakkit looked expectantly at her.

"Wasn't mine," she muttered.

"Of course it wasn't, Emberkit," Fireheart growled. "Because you're always _so_ obedient and you are certainly not a troublemaker of any sort!"

Emberkit's face brightened. Her father believed her! "Yeah!"

Fireheart sighed. "Your punishment is…the three of you have to stay in the nursery for four sunrises. Your mother will bring you your food and water."

The kits' faces fell.

"And you, Emberkit, will stay for a quarter moon," Fireheart added.

"A quarter moon?" she repeated. "Why only me?"

"Because I know you, Emberkit." Fireheart's expression was solemn. "You most likely forced your siblings _and _Brindleface's kits to go with you."

Emberkit's ears grew warm. "I…I…I did not!" she spluttered.

Crowkit shot her a glare. "Yes, you did."

Their father let out a sigh. "Your brothers are pretty honest, Emberkit. I'm going to have to believe them over you. I'm sorry." He didn't look sorry. He turned and padded out of the nursery.

**Weird…**

**xx-Starfall-xx**


End file.
